The Weekly Ramble – October 16, 2026

Ah, throw back to Sunday Dinner. I made my first pot roast of the season with mashed potatoes, green beans, and a few cans of cranberry sauce that I bought on clearance last winter. So, so good.

Of course, there were no leftovers, but dang that was a yummy dinner. I think fall Sunday Dinners are the best kind, don’t you?

I made this one in the Dutch oven instead of the slow cooker. It works well and is just as easy. I like it for when I’m not quite ready to get it all set to forget in the morning.

This weekend is another hot one, with more cold days on the horizon. The whiplash Mother Nature is giving us – Oy!

Here’s what else I’ve been doing, eating, listening/watching, and/or reading this past week:

What I’m Re-Learning

We’ve been car shopping for a while and finally decided to get a clunker with a manual transmission so we could teach all the kids to drive stick. I know, we’re weird.

Well, “the clunker” Bryan found is in such good condition and with such low miles, it’s easily moved up to be our 2nd best car! Ha!

It’s an older car without all the bells and whistles, but less than 70k on the odometer and after tax we paid just $7k! It will get better gas mileage than most of our other cars, too.

So, this week I’ve been relearning how to drive stick. My high school best friend taught me on her stepdad’s car when we were 16 and later my parents assigned me to drive a 71 VW Bus. Can you imagine?

Later our first car we bought as a married couple was an 80’s Honda Accord. You know the ubiquitous brown hatchback? I drove that for 2 to 3 years until the first FishBaby came along.

All that to say, I know how to drive a manual transmission but it had been 30 years. I’m relearning, burning rubber only a couple times and stalling just once! Ha!

What I’ve Been Doing

I’ve surprised myself by getting more steps each day and not taking rest days. Julie is still under the weather so my walks have been solitary most days, but I’ve taken to calling friends on the phone and that has been so nice!

The walk is usually over before the conversation is, so that’s really nice.

We didn’t have Tuesday Bible study this week as it was scheduled to be a week off. And I decided to pare down to just the Tuesday study instead of hauling across the county on Wednesdays. Between the commute and the price of gas, it’s a good call.

I’m still reading the book, but I’ll complete it maybe this month instead of next spring.

Having an extra day at home has been really nice, too. I’m such a homebody!

What I’ve Been Eating

You’ll remember back in April when I discovered Pesto Beans. I’ve made it several times over the last six months, adding my own tweaks. Currently, I’m making it with onion instead of expensive shallots, no fresh basil because I can’t seem to keep a plant alive, and adding a can of petite diced tomatoes (drained) instead of the lemon juice. So good!

We typically have this over angel hair pasta, sometimes with chicken sometimes not. So far, no one has complained so it’s staying in the rotation.

Next week I’m mixing things up a bit. I’ve got five meals I want new photos for the Advent calendar AND I’m working with Hungryroot to try out some Open Nester Mama Food. At least that’s what I’m calling it.

What I’ve Been Listening/Watching

Last week after we picked up the new-to-us car, we both drove home from Orange County late at night. I had a Coke Zero 🥹 at Chick-Fil-A and cranked Spotify to keep me awake.

The algorithm gave me this song, “Take My Heart with Altar Fire,” and I listened to it several times on the drive and into this week. So good.

This verse caught my attention:

Take away my love of sinning
Straighten every bent desire
Fix my soul upon Your promise
Take my heart with altar fire

If we’re honest with ourselves, we do love sinning. We wouldn’t do it if there wasn’t something we thought we were gaining. Hmmm 🤔

What I’ve Been Reading

I haven’t watched much TV, but I haven’t done much reading, either. This week I finished Leviticus and got a good start on Numbers.

To be honest, I’m working on so many things for the Good Cheap Eats Club and holiday content that there isn’t much free time for other stuff. I’ve even set up my phone by the bathroom sink so I’m not even getting distracted by that!

I dream of a December where most of my work-work is done and I can cozy up with my books by the tree. Yes! That’s my goal.

What I’ve Been Working On

So, I’ve been working on a lot of little projects:

• Autumn Celebrations – this is the seasonal pack for the Club. I couldn’t decide between early holiday prep and Crocktoberfest, so I did both! This is free to Club members ($17 for a monthly membership) or $25 a la carte. Club members also have access to on-demand video to complement the package.
• Happy Holidaze – the seasonal pack for next month, plus a video for everyone.
• 2026 Advent Calendar – available next month as well, but free to Club members in December. There will be four calendars to choose from this season!
• a special Instagram collaboration with a national food brand – more on this soon! Follow me on Instagram as the recipes will only be available there.
• an extra fun gift-giving resource if I can pull off the recipes and photos and formatting in time. The taste-testing has been fun!

Okay, I guess that’s it for this week!